.. -=- On forgiveness -=- = On forgiveness = > „My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another, and forgave not one another in their hearts, and for this evil they were afflicted, and sorely chastened; wherefore I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another, for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses, standeth condemned before the Lord, for there remaineth in him the greater sin.  I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men; and ye ought to say in your hearts, Let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds.  And he that repenteth not of his sins, and confesseth them not, then ye shall bring him before the church, and do with him as the Scriptures saith unto you, either by commandment, or by revelation.” —[RD&C 64:2c–f](http://www.scripturetoolbox.com/html/d_c/Section/64.html#2b-2g). I understand the commandment to forgive all men somewhat more specifically than some seem to. Christ atoned for our sins.  Sins can be against our fellows, not only against God (Christian thought tends to overemphasise the latter for some reason).  For the atonement to have full effect, we need to be reconciled, not only with God, but with those we have wronged.  For this to be possible, we need to be free from vendetta—if Christ tells us to be reconciled to some{\"o}ne, we need to be able to implement this; otherwise, Christ cannot justly expect others to be reconciled to *us*, however our merit may lie.  Thus, the atonement cannot take full effect. We are not required to trust every{\"o}ne necessarily.  To be willing to forgive some{\"o}ne does not, to me, imply fully trusting them again against one's better discernment, except insofar as it implies submission to Christ's judgement on this front, e.g. at the last day.  It does imply defusing, rather than propogating, destructive feuds.  It does imply preferring reformative justice, seeing no value in temporal punitive justice. Being a commandment does not make forgiveness any less of a personal choice.  It is not something that can, or ought to, be enforced by a community.  To forgive some{\"o}ne because you were made to do so is not true forgiveness, but abuse.  Forgiveness is praiseworthy, but it is a personal decision; people have a God-given power and right to choose and let the consequence follow.  Contrary to the positions of some, it is not healthy for a community to police one another's moral standing. Indeed, no{\"o}ne besides Jesus can, fairly, require some{\"o}ne to be reconciled to another, due to not having been through what that person has been put through.  And even Jesus can only do so justly because he *has* been: > „Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” —[Isaiah 53:4–5](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2053%3A4-5&version=ASV) > > „And he shall go forth, suffering pains, and afflictions, and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith, He will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people; and he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people: and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” —[Alma 5:20–22 (RLDS versification)](http://www.scripturetoolbox.com/html/1908aebom/Alma/5.html#20) So, the spirit of forgiveness is not: - Fully trusting some{\"o}ne without justification to esteem them worthy of full trust. - Being made or expected by other people to reconcile with some{\"o}ne. - Expecting some{\"o}ne to forgive you, or anyone else, without having been through what they have been through. The spirit of forgiveness is: - Distaste against feuds, vendettas and punitive forms of temporal justice, even those against those who have wronged you. - Using the discernment you have been granted in interaction with others, but being willing to submit to Christ's judgement through inspiration and at the last day. - Seeing the worth of every soul; not dehumanising even those responsible for atrocities, not in principle seeing any{\"o}ne as ‘beyond saving’, understanding that „the worst men have most need of repentance, and that they who are unfit to live, are still more unfit to die” (—John Neal).